Driving Trip
 

Need comments & suggestions for driving (2 weeks-end of May) from Paris south thru France to Alps & Switzerland & back to Paris. Drop car & 3 days in Paris. Can I fit in the Pyrenees?

This sounds like a lot to fit in in 2 weeks. We did this (and some other stuff) by car on our first trip to europe - but we had 6 weeks. If you stick with the motorways you can cover a lot of ground quickly due to the high speed limits - but you also don't see very much.

Have you laid out a day by day itinerary? I would do a specific itineray with estimated mileage listing the main items you want to see and do in each place to see if the # of days you are alotting is reasonable. I'ts not clear from you list exactly what you have in mind - south from Paris to Barcelona (going through Bordeaux? or ?) then east along the coast up through Switzerland and back to Paris via Geneva or?

Just starting to put this trip together. Working on a general outline. Paris is definite, as are the Alps & Switzerland. We (wife & 14 yr old daughter) have never cared to linger in an area very long. I thought maybe 200 miles a day. We rise early & hit the road for the next stop.

With only two weeks, you should go in one direction or the other.

I'm just curious, since I have kids about the age of yours: How does the 14-year-old feel about sitting in a car driving 200 miles a day for two weeks?

The 14 year old has sat in the car for 3000 miles thru Wyoming & Utah before & loved the trip.

Your plan is quite workable in the time you have allotted. On one vacation I made essentially the same trip in less than 2 weeks. Yes, you have to move a bit, but one purpose of your trip is to experience a number of different places. So go for it.

If it were my trip, I'd make the following spots and stopover times as a first draft of the plan:
-Paris to Tours area. Stay in Chenonceaux 2 nights. On the way, see Orleans briefly, visit Chambord and Chenonceaux chateaux. See Azay-le-Rideau, and Blois chateaux as time permits.
-Chenonceaux to Monpazier in the Perigord (Dordogne) area. Stay in Monpazier 3 nights. Explore the Dordogne villages--magical.
-Monpazier to Le-Puy-en-Velay. Stay for 2 nights. This is a village not to be missed, and one that many Americans don't even know about.
-Le-Puy-en-Velay to Annecy, Talloires, or Menthon along Lake Annecy in France. See Annecy and the lake villages. Stay in one of the villages for 2 nights.
-Annecy to Tournus, France, a small village on the Saone river with a lovely abbey. It's about 100 miles south of Dijon and a place that the French love to visit. Stay in Tournus 2 nights.
-Tournus through Dijon to Vezelay. Stay one night in Vezelay and see the chateau.
-Vezelay to Paris.

This seems to use the approximate number of days and is a trip designed to allow you to see the beautiful scenery and the small villages. There aren't any big cities in the itinerary, but I get the impression that this is what you want. I wouldn't try to add the Pyrenees unless you go directly south, then brush the Alps of southern France on your way back to Paris. You'll only brush the edge of Switzerland, going past Geneva on the way to Tournus, but there isn't time for much more.

At least this is something you can chew on for comparison to the many alternatives that people will suggest. Good luck.

Wayne, thanks for the suggested itinerary. Great stuff. Don in FL.

[Trying for the 5th time to post this message - let's hope it doesn't suddenly appear in duplicate]

I think you could include the Pyrenees if you want, as you clearly don't mind driving long distances.

You could, for example, go from Paris to Burgundy (Beaune/Dijon), from there to the Alps (e.g. Annecy - perfect in May-June), then to Switzerland, then back across the Alps via Lyon, then down to Montpellier (3 hour motorway drive), from there to Carcassonne (2 hours) and the eastern Pyrenees. You could then head north up the motorway to Paris (Carcassone - Paris is about 9 hours straight on the motorway), or stop off in Provence if you want, or in the Loire valley if you'd rather see a few châteaux.
It's a busy schedule, but doable in 2 weeks. (We drove much further in S. Africa over 10 days and no-one said we were crazy!!)

Keep in mind that some of the roads through the Pyrenees are hair-raising, as are some of the roads through the alps. Even my husband, who has no problem with heights or twisty roads, found a few of them more than he had expected.

I'm not quite clear about your time frame: do you have two weeks total for the trip?

We did a similar trip about 4 years ago, with 2 teenagers. We too, don't like to linger very long in one place, so I don't think you are crazy.

Perhaps one option. We spent a few days in Paris, then took an overnight train (just for the experience of it), from Paris to Chamonix. We loved it. Spent 2 nights there (wonderful scenery), and picked up our car in Chamonix instead of Paris. From there we headed cut thru Switzerland on the way to the Lake Como Italy area, then back into southern France. Kids would like Chamonix. We all slept like babies on the train.
EK